Mobile Networks Featured Article

A noticeable growth in high speed internet subscriptions has been seen in Morocco, one of key broadband national markets in Africa, according to Dataxis Intelligence. The company is an international market research and statistical intelligence company that covers 4 play markets worldwide. New generation mobile broadband services based on both HSDPA and EV-DO technologies are the key factors for driving the growth.

The total number of broadband subscriptions rose from 418 thousands in 2007 to nearly 1.2 million at 2009-end. This is a growth of more than three times in the referred period. The arrival of mobile internet access services through 3G data keys has made this growth possible. These services have been first rolled out by national MNOs pioneered by INWI formerly known as Wana (News - Alert).

Mobile broadband in Morocco has outpaced fixed broadband access through DSL technology from the alternative broadband access service to the main one in just 2 years. In the third quarter of 2009, mobile broadband subscribers surpassed fixed broadband ones before closing the year at 713 thousands. Fixed broadband has reached the lowest level in 2009 since the end of 2007 with the connections reaching only 469 thousand at the end of the year.

According to Dataxis, mobile broadband adoption has seen a growth 2 times faster than fixed broadband.  The key factor being the flexibility of the service with both prepaid and postpaid offerings marketed by operators for average net additions of over 400,000 new subscribers on a quarterly basis.

Dataxis questions whether the game for fixed broadband in Morocco is over. The researchers feel this would depend on the strategies implemented by the national Telcos especially the main provider of fixed broadband services, Maroc Telecom.

Detailed and up to date data on subscribers, revenues and ARPUs along with annual forecasts on major operators and technology suppliers are available at the online database of Dataxis Intelligence. This online database is available at www.dataxis.com. Telecom professional can keep up to date on the latest developments of the industry with the Dataxis' news website available at www.dataxisnews.com. Different regions worldwide like Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Latin America are covered under the Dataxis Views Section where analyses and press releases are also published.